Conditional Clauses – Free Exercise

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Exercise B1

Real Condition
Complete the sentences.

  1. Wenn (ich/haben/Zeit)  , lese ich gerne Zeitschriften.[When I have time, I like to read magazines.]|Wenn + subject + … + finite verb (at the end)
  2. Wenn ihr mich besuchen kommt, (ich/backen/Kuchen)  [If you come visit me, I’ll bake a cake.]|the part of the sentence without wenn is a completely normal main clause|The wenn-clause comes in first position. Because the finite verb must always come in second position, the subject is moved after the verb.
  3. Er möchte nicht gestört werden, wenn (er/lernen/für die Prüfung)  [He doesn’t like to be disturbed when he’s revising for a test.]|Wenn + subject + … + finite verb (at the end)
  4. (ich/können/abholen/dich)  , wenn du den Weg nicht kennst.[I can pick you up if you don’t know the way.]|the part of the sentence without wenn is a completely normal main clause → subject + finite verb + … + infinitive verb
  5. Wenn es regnet, (wir/bleiben/zu Hause)  [If it rains, we’ll stay home.]|the part of the sentence without wenn is a completely normal main clause|The wenn-clause comes in first position. Because the finite verb must always come in second position, the subject is moved after the verb.

Unreal Condition (Present)
Complete the sentences.

  1. Wenn (ich/sein/reich)  , würde ich eine Weltreise machen.[If I were rich, I’d go on a trip around the world.]|Wenn + subject + … + finite verb (at the end)|Subjunctive II (Konjunktiv II) of sein → wäre|with sein we generally don’t use the würde-form
  2. Wenn du vor den Tests besser lernen würdest, (du/müssen/keine Angst haben)  [If you studied better for the tests, you wouldn’t have to be so nervous.]|the part of the sentence without wenn is a normal main clause|The wenn-clause comes in the first position. Because the finite verb always has to come in the second position, the subject moves after the verb.|Subjunctive II (Konjunktiv II) of müssen → müsste|with the modal verbs we generally don’t use the würde-form
  3. Wenn ich einen Kompass hätte, (ich/geben/euch/ihn)  [If I had a compass, I would give it to you.]|the part of the sentence without wenn is a normal main clause|The wenn-clause comes in the first position. Because the finite verb always has to come in the second position, the subject moves after the verb.|Subjunctive II (Konjunktiv II) of geben → gäbe|here, the würde-form is also possible (würde geben)|If the direct object is a pronoun, it moves before the indirect object (ich gebe euch den Kompass – ich gebe ihn euch)
  4. Ich wäre euch sehr dankbar, wenn (ihr/helfen können/mir)  [I would be very thankful to you if you could help me.]|Wenn + subject + … + finite verb (at the end)|Subjunctive II (Konjunktiv II) of können → könnte|with the modal verbs we generally don’t use the würde-form
  5. (die Kinder/spielen/draußen)  , wenn das Wetter besser wäre.[The children would play outside if the weather were better.]|the part of the sentence without wenn is a normal main clause|Here, we have to use the würde-form, because Subjunctive I (Konjunktiv I) and II don’t look any different from the indicative form.

Unreal Condition (Past)
Complete the sentences.

  1. Sie wären zur Feier gekommen, wenn (sie plural/nicht verpassen/den Zug)  [They would have come to the celebration if they hadn’t missed the train.]|Wenn + subject + … + finite verb (at the end)|verpassen forms the compound tense with haben|Subjunctive II (Konjunktiv II) of haben → hätte|past participle of verpassen → verpasst
  2. Wenn du nicht so viel gegessen hättest, (du/bekommen/keine Bauchschmerzen)  [If you hadn’t eaten so much, you wouldn’t have gotten a stomach ache.]|the part of the sentence without wenn is a normal main clause|The wenn-clause comes in the first position. Because the finite verb must always come in the second position, the subject moves after the verb.|bekommen forms the compound tense with haben|Subjunctive II (Konjunktiv II) of haben → hätte|past participle of bekommen → bekommen
  3. Wenn ihr mitgemacht hättet, (wir/fertig werden/schneller)  [If you had helped, we would have finished sooner.]|the part of the sentence without wenn is a normal main clause|The wenn-clause comes in the first position. Because the finite verb must always come in the second position, the subject moves after the verb.|werden forms the compound tense with sein|Subjunctive II (Konjunktiv II) of sein → wäre|past participle of werden → geworden
  4. (er/teilnehmen/am Marathonlauf)  , wenn er nicht krank geworden wäre.[He would have taken part in the marathon if he hadn’t got sick.]|the part of the sentence without wenn is a normal main clause → subject + finite verb + … + infinite verb|teilnehmen forms the compound tense with haben|Subjunctive II (Konjunktiv II) of haben → hätte|past participle of teilnehmen → teilgenommen
  5. Ich hätte mich früher bei dir gemeldet, wenn (ich/finden/deine Telefonnummer)  [I would have called you sooner if I had found your telephone number.]|Wenn + subject + … + finite verb (at the end)|finden forms the compound tense with haben|Subjunctive II (Konjunktiv II) of haben → hätte|past participle of finden → gefunden